FG committed to addressing nutrition challenges – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to addressing its growing nutrition challenges through a community-driven strategy aimed at transforming nutrition outcomes across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas (LGAs).

This is just as the World Bank has lauded the N-774 initiative’s strategic framework as a potential model for tackling malnutrition in the country and across the region.

Speaking during a meeting with a high-level delegation from the World Bank Group at the Presidential Villa Abuja, Vice President Shettima presented the comprehensive N-774 Initiative, which builds on successful outcomes from the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project.

The Vice President, while acknowledging the support of the World Bank on numerous nutrition programmes across Nigeria, noted that the N-774 initiative comes at a crucial time considering the ANRiN project closeout.

He said, “The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is pioneering a paradigm shift in nutrition programmes through locally owned solutions. The N-774 Initiative represents our commitment to community-driven development and sustainable nutrition outcomes.”

The Vice President explained that the N-774 Initiative is a localised, community-driven solution tailored towards the unique needs of each LGA and aims to bring nutrition interventions directly to communities while encouraging local ownership and ensuring sustainability.

“Malnutrition is a Nigerian problem that needs a Nigerian solution and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very much willing to support such an initiative,” he said, adding that the project integrates nutrition goals across education, agriculture, health and social protection sectors.

On the project implementation strategy, Vice President Shettima said it was important to leverage current political will to reverse the country’s negative nutrition indicators.

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“The Renewed Hope Administration is committed to swift, impactful results through this innovative approach to nutrition intervention.

“With sustained collaboration between the federal and subnational governments, and international partners, we are confident this initiative will yield significant improvements in our community health outcomes,” the Vice President stated.

The World Bank delegation, including the Country Director, Regional Director for West and Central Africa and the Practice Manager for Health Global Practice, expressed a strong commitment to the initiative’s bottom-up approach to addressing nutrition challenges.

Specifically, the Country Director of the World Bank, Ndiame Diop, thanked the Vice President for his leadership in coordinating multi-stakeholder collaboration in setting agenda on nutrition issues in public discourses.

He added that it is important to see Nigeria’s government’s ongoing financing for nutrition, just as he announced that the bank has earmarked $50 million under ANRiN 2.0 programme which is a crisis response window.

Also, Practice Manager for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank, Trina Haque said there is a need for nutrition education for children and adolescents as it important for early child development.